Prescott Valley is losing another police chief
The Prescott Valley Town Council will vote on June 17 whether or not to accept an agreement negotiated by Town Manager office and Police Chief Steve Roser and his attorney calling for Rosser to retire on July 2, 2021. Chief Roser had been placed on two days’ administrative leave in April after being accused of various acts which created a hostile work. The investigation found some but not all charges were true.
According to our sources, by the agreement, the town could pay Rosser twelve months of salary and pension contribution equivalents, reimbursement of the cost of six months of COBRA health coverage for him, his spouse and dependents or until Roser becomes eligible for other employee-provided health insurance, whichever is first. Roser can keep his service weapon at no charge and will be re-imbursed for reasonable attorney fees of up to $2,500.
On April 27, 2021 the Town announced had placed Roser on paid administrative leave pending an investigation into allegations of violating the towns policies and procedures and made Commander James Edelstein the acting chief during the investigation. The town said that it would not be releasing any additional details at the time.
On May 17 the Town announced that the Human Resources Department had completed their investigation. An unknown number of Police Department staff had reported to Mayor Kell Palguta incidents that if true would violate the Town’s Code of Ethics and create a hostile work environment.
The results of the investigation were mixed.
The allegations of violation of the Town’s Code regarding Harassment, Honesty and Integrity, and Staffing decisions were unfounded.
Alleged reports of violation of Town Code regarding Code of Conduct and Standards of Conduct were sustained as they applied to Chief Roser’s communication style with his management team, his use of profanity, name calling, dealing with performance deficiencies in a group of employees, and other discourteous and disrespectful conduct.
The investigation recommended a two-day unpaid suspension and a letter of reprimand, along with remedial training on Emotional Intelligence and Code of Conduct. It was also recommended that the Chief’s office provide additional training and resources to staff, communication of changes in procedures and protocols to staff well in advance of implementation, and that the Chief advise and honor that the Town has an open door policy for all personnel to communicate to Town leadership in accordance with policies without fear of retaliation.
These recommendations were approved by Town Manager Larry Tarkowski, and after completion of the two-day unpaid suspension, Chief Roser returned to work on Monday, May 17.
